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NanoRacks Announces 6U And 12U CubeSats For ISS Deployment

Image Credit: NanoRacks

September 27, 2016 – NanoRacks announced today that starting early 2017, customers will be able to utilize the International Space Station a new CubeSat deployer that accommodates additional industry standards. This announcement comes after a successful deployment cycle of eight Planet Labs Doves (2e’) CubeSats two weeks ago from the Space Station.

NanoRacks will utilize a 12U CubeSat standard offering maximum utilization of the Company’s commercial ISS deployment opportunities. The deployer will house two 6U CubeSats in the 2x3U Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC) form factor, or one 12U CubeSat in the never before offered 2x6U form factor.

Both the 6U and 12U are open for business. The 12U configuration is first planned for launch in early 2017.

By expanding the capabilities of the NRCSD and the sizes of CubeSats it can accommodate, customers will be able to build more powerful satellites that better advance their goals in space. This can include more powerful earth observation cameras, larger sensors, and more powerful. larger, and advanced components.

“We have heard the demand from our customers for more space in their CubeSats, and we listened. CubeSats are a movement of miniaturization, but there is still a lot of hardware that needs to be pushed into a CubeSat,” says Richard Pournelle, Senior Vice President of Business Development. “Now customers can go big, go small, or anywhere in between to best suit their needs for satellite deployment in low-Earth orbit.”

These CubeSats will be launched inside pressurized cargo modules of ISS visiting vehicles in the soft-stow configuration. The NRCSD will utilize the Planetary Systems Corporation standard on both the 6U and 12U deployers. This standard offers a “tab system” that locks the CubeSat in place within the deployer, minimizing vibration effects and movement of the CubeSat on the ride up to Station.

For those attending the International Astronautic Conference, you may stop by the NanoRacks Booth – A37 to learn more about this new satellite deployment capability, as well as additional NanoRacks services including internal ISS research, the NanoRacks External Platform (NREP), and on Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle.